Tech policy & human rights
Big tech accountability? Read how we got here in The Closing of the Net
When is a Camembert worth more than Cinderella? When it's in ACTA.
Will the French defence of their agricultural sector be the downfall of ACTA? Those French cannot resist defending their cheese - not to mention their Champagne - and it seems that soft, runny dairy products and bubbly wines are ultimately rated higher on the Francophone IP scorecard than their weakling film industry.
A report released by La Quadrature du Net suggests that the French will catalyse an EU walk
out of ACTA (Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement) negotiations if the final agreement does not include a means to protect the Camembert on the list of intellectual property rights.
It reeks of past transatlantic disputes over food imports, where Gallic culinary superiority results in an unresolved diplomatic incident. France wants geographic indications - protected designation of origin - which apply to some of Europe's best known food products. The Camembert is one example, but there is also Parmesan from Italy, and from England, we have Stilton cheese and the Melton Mowbray pork pie!
The US is opposing inclusion of geographic indications.
It begs the question whether their film industry ever was going to benefit from ACTA and the 3-strikes measures which France's President, Nicolas Sarkozy, is so keen on. The French film industry' collaboration with US-multi-nationals Disney and Warner to lobby for the 3-strikes in Paris and Brussels does seem inexplicable to those who follow the political economy of European media.
Because US multi-nationals dominate European media, and what is really at stake with IP enforcement measures such as 3-strikes, or any attempt to force the liabilty of ISPs, are the financial rewards oozing from hot properties such as Cinderella and Snow White.
Will ACTA melt into a gooey, sticky mess - or is that just too cheesey?
Read the report from La Quadrature du Net
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial-Share Alike 2.5 UK:England and Wales License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ It may be used for non-commercial purposes only, and the author's name should be attributed. The correct attribution for this article is: Monica Horten (2010) French Camembert puts ACTA noses out of joint http://www.iptegrity.com 13 September 2010
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Published work
- Algorithms Patrolling Content: Where’s the Harm?
- Content responsibility: The looming cloud of uncertainty for Internet intermediaries
- Freedom of Expression, Human Rights Standards and Private Online Censorship
- The Policy Challenge Of Content Restrictions: How Private Actors Engage The Duties Of States
- Internet Policy Review - The Aereo dilemma and copyright in the cloud
My Linked In profileIptegrity in brief
Iptegrity.com is the website of Dr Monica Horten. I’ve been analysing analysing digital policy since 2008. Way back then, I identified how issues around rights can influence Internet policy, and that has been a thread throughout all of my research. I hold a PhD in EU Communications Policy from the University of Westminster (2010), and a Post-graduate diploma in marketing. I’ve served as an independent expert on the Council of Europe Committee on Internet Freedoms, and was involved in a capacity building project in Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine. I am currently (from June 2022) Policy Manager - Freedom of Expression, with the Open Rights Group. For more, see About Iptegrity
Speaking engagements
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States v the 'Net?
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In 2012, I presented my PhD research in the European Parliament.
The politics of copyright
A Copyright Masquerade - How corporate lobbying threatens online freedoms
'timely and provocative' Entertainment Law Review
